"This is not a product category." "They're not actually going to work on this." "They're going to acquihire themselves to somebody."
When Christina Cacioppo (@christinacaci) first pitched her startup in 2018, investors couldn't believe anyone would want to build compliance software.
Eight years later, @TrustVanta works with 16K+ customers from Lovable to Icelandair, earning a $4.2B valuation.
Now, she faces the opposite question: With AI, can't anyone build this? How does Vanta stay ahead of a new wave of hype-y startups?
"I subscribe to the 'never let them see you blink' school of thought, she tells me.
On The Upstarts Podcast, Cacioppo shares how she created value in a sleepy category; how she prioritizes “infinity things” as a startup unicorn CEO; and why when it comes to good security hygiene, we could all spend more time brushing our teeth.
Plus, she shares her Upstart Moment: working to re-think, and future-proof, Vanta's software business in the face of powerful AI models.
This season is presented by @Rippling 🫡
CHAPTERS 00:00 Introduction 1:39 What Vanta does 5:26 Selling to other startups 9:28 How AI agents change ‘pretty much everything’ 14:06 Christina’s *real* founder origin story 16:23 Underdog fundraising and gaming VCs 18:59 The problem with startup valuations 24:08 Turning LinkedIn ‘cringe’ into customer traction 26:41 Reinventing Vanta with AI 33:43 Whether AI could clone Vanta 35:23 ‘Never let them see you blink’ 37:24 Avoiding burnout with ‘infinity things’